Oldest Barleywine
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008There is one last, reasonably poor hope in my fridge that it will make it to it’s first anniversary. Damn it is good. Quilter’s Irish Death variation. It is swell. Wish I’d left it longer. Que sera.
Archive for February, 2008
Drilling a hole in a fridge for a gas line
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008I want to have my regulator & gas outside the fridge and drill a hole for the gas line to go into. Do I just drill the hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the tube, so that it’s a snug fit, or do I need to add something else there for a better seal? Also, would a normal power drill do the trick or should I try to find some other sort of circular drill? Anything else I should know? BTW - I plan to have the hole in the side and I know about the corn starch/water trick to check for dangerous spots. Thanks.
Food pairing question….
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Posted: by gglwebster (5 hours ago)
Guitar Hero and Craft Beer
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008The GBS loves all of its studio locations. Here is a flyer from “Studio M”. Support Craft Beer!
Shucks, be their friend on myspace too.
Infection?
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Hello everyone, I am new to the brewing world.
About a week ago I made an american ale that my local brew shop hooked me up with and right when I was about to put my lid and air lock on, I dropped an unsanitized refrigerator thermometer in the bucket and it sank all the way to the bottom. I scooped it out with my spoon and went on and let it ferment for a week or so and then last night i was going to transfer it to my secondary fermentor and there was a white frothy layer with lots of chunks in it the smell was also way stronger than any other batch i have made. I tasted it and the taste was kind of punget.
Does this sound like an infection? should I transfer to my secondary and cross my fingers? Or is a complete loss?
Maryland takes a giant step
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008The latest legislation from our idiots in Annapolis!
If I want to teach somebody how to HB, it has to be done in my home, with my equipment, and I have to pay $250 for a permit for the privilege.
From the wording of the document it seem I am already supposed to be paying $400 for a home brewery / winery permit, and a $75 fee to allow me to take my HB on the public roads.
CRAP!
Ya know, that old concept of tar and feathering had a lot going for it. 
Gelatin and Polyclar
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Do gelatin and ployclar remove different types of particles from beer? Should i be using both or is using just one of them good enough? I do use whirflock in my boil. I’m not sure if this would make gelatin or polyclar a better choice after fermentation if i were to pick just one.
Also, does the use of these fining agents in secondary mean that i can’t harvest the yeast? I’m guessing that since polyclar is just little bits of plastic it would be fine. But gelatin will probably result the yeast being suspended in gobs of gelatin.
My 1st AG
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008So last Tuesday I got the cahones together to do my 1st AG batch, a simple APA. All things considered it didn’t go too bad until I was going to pitch the yeast. Here’s the details.
Monday - 1/2 gallon yeast starter using 1272 Wyeast
Grains
11.5 lbs American 2-row
0.50 lbs Crystal 40L
0.75 lbs Crystal 120L
Hops
1oz Centennial
2oz Cascade
Mashed in at 167 with 15.6 qts of water, mixed and stirred each 10mins for 60 mins. Mashed out with 1.3Gal of boiling, held for 10 mins. Volrauf and collected the 1st runnings. Batch sparge with 3.1 Gals, stirred and held for 10mins. Volrauf and collected 2nd runnings. Something must have been off for the calculations I had come up with for my equipment because I had nearly 8 gallons in my brew pot….but no biggie….made a minor adjustment to the hop schedule and boil for 90 instead of 60 mins.
Finished up the boil, cooled and got it into the primary….just about 5.25 gallons. Checked my gravity, 1.058….a little shy but not disappointing, was hoping to be at 1.062. Tasted and smelled wonderful. I did the boil on my CampChef extreme on the back porch. I was carrying the carboy into the house and was about to put it on the bar counter so I could pitch the yeast starter and it all went south from there. The bottom of the carboy was wet and my hand slipped as I was lifting up to the bar…..you all can figure the rest from there!
All I can say is thank God for shop-vac’s and I took the advice that I’ve read time and time again here. I relaxed and popped open a couple of homebrews as I spent the next six hours cleaning up my kitchen. I had to pull the fridge, dishwasher and stove out to get it all cleaned up….what a pain in the ass!
The next day I ordered two beer haulers from NB, they arrived today just after I got back from the LHBS with the same grain bill and hops. I will make my 2nd attempt at my 1st AG tomorrow!
First all grain
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Did my first all grain batch today. I did the Quiet Storm Stout. All went to smooth and I really had no difficulties. My OG was 1.057 instead of 1.062 and I had to use Willamette instead of Fuggle. Other than that a beautiful brewing day. Here is a couple of pics
What a great hobby
Reynold’s Vacuum Sealer
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008I was doing some grocery shopping and saw one of these on sale $8 bucks and $3 for extra bags. I just did a search on the board and nothing came up. I just finished sealing up all my Hops and it seems to work well.
11 bucks seems like a bargain too me, If it works……….
Let me know if anyone has used this with success.
Need some Amarillo ‘zomes
Monday, February 25th, 2008I know that Amarillo ‘zomes aren’t sold in HBSs, but I’m figuring that someone out there has to have figured out a way to get their hands on some. I’ll make it worth your while. Same thing goes for Simcoe. Or both.
Lindemans Framboise Chocolate fondue
Monday, February 25th, 2008Posted: by bort11 (23 hours ago)
Props to blktre and csbosox
Monday, February 25th, 2008Props are due to a couple Brewboarders. The 25th Annual KC Bier Meisters Comp was this last weekend. blktre kicked some butt taking first in the IPA category with an American IPA, first in the Belgian and French Ale category with a Belgian Specialty Ale, and second in the Amber Hybrid category with a North German Altbier.
csbosox took first in the American Ale category with an American Amber Ale and second in the Belgian and French Ale category with a Belgian Specialty Ale.
Congrats and great job guys. If I’ve missed any other Brewboarders, speak up.
guinness
Monday, February 25th, 2008not rying to re-invent the wheel, just produce a steady dry irish stout hitting on many of the distinguishing flavors od guinness
guinessish
Dry Stout (Irish)
Type: All Grain
Date: 2/25/2008
Batch Size: 10.00 gal
Brewer: michael randolph
Boil Size: 11.45 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
15.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 85.7 %
1.50 lb Black Barley (Stout) (500.0 SRM) Grain 8.6 %
1.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 5.7 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (45 min) Hops 15.2 IBU
0.75 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (60 min) Hops 12.4 IBU
2 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1084) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.042 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.0 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.6 %
Bitterness: 27.6 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 30.1 SRM Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 17.50 lb
Sparge Water: 8.08 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 5.47 gal of water at 170.5 F 158.0 F 45 min
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 7.6 oz Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 60.0 F Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F
Notes
sour with 2 soured imp pintts of guiness
Flying Dog Creates Craft Beer Twitter Page
Monday, February 25th, 2008Flying Dog has launched a couple new Twitter pages so you can stay even more connected and have yet another excuse to play with your computer and not your wife/husband/girlfirend/boyfriend/whatever.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Twitter, it’s a microblogging website that allows users to write and read posts that are less […]
Widmer Bros.
Monday, February 25th, 2008my local beer drinking spot had this on tap so out of curiosity i tried it and DAYUM! thats some tasty stuff. A good follow up for after a few black and tans.
ebrew
Monday, February 25th, 2008Is the ebrew site still up?
Ever since the merge I can’t get on the site. Keeps timing out.
I’ve cleaned cookies and everything.
my first beer porn
Monday, February 25th, 2008
WL 085 English Ale Blend
Monday, February 25th, 2008Anyone try this yet? I’ve got a bitter coming up next in the brew rotation and am thinking of trying it. I’ve reviewed the website description and am looking for personal experiences with this.
Question about Nitrogen tanks
Monday, February 25th, 2008I am looking into getting a nitro set-up. I have noticed that some places have tanks listed by pounds (5 or 10) which look just like the CO2 tanks with a different valve, and others have them listed by cubic feet (22 or 33). Are the tanks themselves different? I thought I recall somewhere that Nitrogen and/or beergas was higher pressure. I assume all would be rated to handle that?
Finally, is there any conversion from # to cf? I was wondering which was actually bigger, the 33cf tank or the 10# tank. I can find both for about $100.
keep ‘em busy IPA
Monday, February 25th, 2008an extract IPA that’ll keep your friends busy when they come over to see what’s involved in brewing
8 lbs Light DME
.75 lb Crystal 20L
.5 lb Crystal 60L
.25 Crystal 120L
1 oz Magnum 14% @ 60
.5 oz Centennial 5.5% @ 30
.5 Amarillo 9.2% @ 30
.25 Cascade 5.5% @ 15
.25 Centennial 9.7% @ 15
.5 Amarillo 9.2% @ 5
.25 Amarillo 9.2% @ flameout
.25 Cascade 5.5% @ flameout
.25 Centennial 9.7% @ flameout
WLP041 Pacific Ale
any comments or suggestions? i can keep their hands moving during the boil with this recipe, and i think it’ll come out decent.
I’ve got a Busch Light problem
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Posted: by bboven (21 hours ago)
Thinking about a California Common…
Sunday, February 24th, 2008I’ve been “lurking” on the board for a while here, and have found many helpful comments and conversations. Thanks for helping a new brewer discover a great hobby!
I recently read Frank Norris’s McTeague, and have been inspired to try a steam beer. I’ve never made a Cali Common, and would love some feedback on this recipe.
I want to have a malty character with a slight rye/saaz bite to it. This is for an 11 gallon batch at 70% efficiency, 90 minute boil.
Grain Bill:
7.50 lb Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 30.0 %
7.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 30.0 %
5.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 20.0 %
5.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 20.0 %
Hop Bill:
2.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (45 min) Hops 26.1 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50%] (90 min) Hops 15.2 IBU
2.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
Yeast:
California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) [Starter 200 ml]
Temp rest @ 157*
Sparge out @ 170*
Thanks.
Braving The Storm
Sunday, February 24th, 2008It’s a little too early to say for sure, but so far it looks like craft beer drinkers are continuing to fuel the momentum our category has enjoyed for years now. At Flying Dog we were very concerned that the price increases we and the rest of the craft brewing industry had to pass […]
Sugar Addition
Sunday, February 24th, 2008I brewed the following Scaldis Noel Recipe on Feb. 18.
I held back 1 lb of the sugar to add later during fermentation.
My OG was 1.100 and today the gravity was 1.035.
At what point should I add the final pound of sugar?
President Scaldis
A ProMash Recipe Report
BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
18-E Belgian Strong Ale, Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Min OG: 1.075 Max OG: 1.132
Min IBU: 15 Max IBU: 35
Min Clr: 14 Max Clr: 20 Color in SRM, Lovibond
Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 22.25
Anticipated OG: 1.131 Plato: 30.46
Anticipated SRM: 18.7
Anticipated IBU: 24.6
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Pre-Boil Amounts
Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.45 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.102 SG 24.16 Plato
Formulas Used
Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.
Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager
Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
2.2 0.50 lbs. Weyermann Caraaroma Germany 1.034 178
2.8 0.63 lbs. Victory Malt America 1.034 25
2.8 0.63 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
42.7 9.50 lbs. TF Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt UK 1.037 3
40.4 9.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
9.0 2.00 lbs. Cane Sugar Generic 1.046 0
Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.25 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.75 20.8 60 min
0.50 oz. Styrian Goldings Pellet 5.25 2.4 15 min
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 4.75 1.4 5 min
Extras
Amount Name Type Time
0.05 Oz Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)
Yeast
WYeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale
Water Profile
Profile:
Profile known for:
Calcium(Ca): 0.0 ppm
Magnesium(Mg): 0.0 ppm
Sodium(Na): 0.0 ppm
Sulfate(SO4): 0.0 ppm
Chloride(Cl): 0.0 ppm
biCarbonate(HCO3): 0.0 ppm
pH: 0.00
Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Single Step
Grain Lbs: 20.25
Water Qts: 22.42 Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 5.61 Before Additional Infusions
Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.11 Before Additional Infusions
Rest Temp Time
Saccharification Rest: 150 90 Min
Mash-out Rest: 0 0 Min
Sparge: 0 0 Min
Which British yeast for a “C” hop IPA?
Sunday, February 24th, 2008I have primarily used American yeast for my IPAs (1056/1272/1332) and now i’m looking to branch out a bit in my attempt to get closer to perfecting a House IPA/APA.
Looks like there are quite a few British yeast to choose from - 1028, 1098, 1099, 1275, 1318, 1335, 1968
Which yeasts would be best for an American hop IPA/APA? This will be an ongoing experiment so please feel free to suggest several strains and perhaps rank them in order of your preference.
Munich, Vienna and crystal
Sunday, February 24th, 2008what each is specifically used for?
I have been brewing for over 5 years and have these on hand, use them when recipes call for but could not really teall someone the PURPOSE for each?
I continue to try to better understand specifics in brewing be it temperatures, hops tastes/aas/IBUs, yeast styles etc.
So if someone came up to you and asked “Why do you use vienna?”, your response would be what?
Thanks!
Bill
ps….searches for PURPOSE of, or REASONS FOR USING_______________________ = TOO MUCH USELESS INFORMATION 
Stouts and spice
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Posted: by BrewMan13 (12 hours ago)
Marinara Sauce
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Posted: by b5d106 (17 hours ago)
Chill Haze
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008My first batch was a nut brown ale all extract and everything seemed to go fine until I put it in the corny and had this cloudiness. I thought it was bad so I tossed it out.
My next brew was a pumpkin ale from my LHBS and everything turned out fine.
After kegging my third all extract ( phat tyre all extract from NB) I had that cloudiness again! After doing a lot of searching i figured out it must be chill haze. What I dont understand is that when I cooled the wort down for this phat tyre I put it into a sink full of ice cubes and snow and it cooled down super fast! But yet.. still chill haze.
Are there any tips to reducing this untill I can get a wort chiller? The phat tyre tastes awesome but its cloudy.
